Rock Cave

As the others
make their way
to church,
I find myself wandering in
the true
First Church of God.
The grandest cathedral,
the most graceful spires,
filtering dappled sunlight
through the autumn leaves,
the stained glass
of sky
against the oranges, reds, yellows
of the fading canopy.

And this prickly pinecone
offers up its own communion-
its own blood-sap-sticky-leaking
leaving its mark on my hands,
a constant reminder
that it's all
living and dying,
and we're all a sacrifice
and receiving sacrifice,
and coming and going,
and rising and setting
in the crisp, cool autumn sun.

10/17/04

Eclipse

Tonight
the moon
has a silver lining
as the clouds
dance
across her face.
As the shadows spread,
only a sliver
of her original radiance
remains.
And as I watch,
breathless,
thet final luminous
thread
disappears.
Autumn moon.
Red moon.

10/27/04

Fireflies

Tennessee summer,
people sitting on their front porches.
In the heat of day,
sipping iced tea and
talking about the weather
last winter.

The fireflies cling to their
secret hiding places,
waiting for the gloaming,
that time when
Sun
begins to falter
and darkness
overwhelms
the glowing embers of sky.

The dense, cool sweetness of night
waits to be ushered in.

Then, when the time is right,
they emerge,
beginning their
mesmerizing
ritual dance.
The stars
must be persuaded
to join
the night sky.

So, twinkle little ones,
the dense, cool sweetness of night
waits to be ushered in.

11/2/04

Ambiguous

For several weeks I’ve seen you now
and yet it seems
that I’ve never seen (look,)
you
at all...(the time...)
Time spent in your company
leaves me wondering (do you)
if next time I’ll (have to go now?)
learn something about
you.

Games, strategies, experiments,
none create
understanding
of another,
really. (what does)
A pieced together (create)
patchwork
of (understanding?)
thoughts, ideas, history.
The pieces don’t fit
together yet.

And beyond the
casual (how is your day?)
coversation,
in the shadows of
complicated (will you)
scary
places (hold my hand?)
within, (this labyrinth)
there is a place of
vulnerability, (is not)
a place guarded from the
wolves, (without compassion)
a place that rarely
experiences
light(ness).
(Nocturnal creatures, they are, howling at the moon.
With the first golden tendrils of morning light, they disappear.)

I am confused by this puzzle.
(By you.)
Why do you spend this time with me?
My stories are not so long,
and when they are finished,
what then?
Will you just wander back out into the world?
Have you already?
(Have I?)

12/28/04

Meditation No. 1

Today ice fell from the sky
Torn, tattered leaves
strewn all around.
The rain, less and more and
water falling
filtering through the
nearly naked trees,
clinging to their last few
jewels.
And the graceful bow of the
lacy pines--
meditation.

10/16/04

October Fire

Fire and darkness.
Purify,
bring me to a
glowing ember place.
The slow divine fire burns
away my skin--
not toughening it but
rendering it unnecessary.
And then, my tendons
and muscles and organs
erupt in ribbons of electricity--
And even my bones eventually feed the blaze.
All that is left of me
is ash.

Fire is on the tip of everything---
The possibility of fire
is everywhere.
So when you no longer see me here,
know my Self is in the very air--
in the very spark that is
always
almost
already
here.

10/16/04

Sea of Grace

What is grace
if it is not understanding
that an ant works so hard
to carry one grain of wheat
for a mile and then dies?

What is understanding
if it is not looking
into a still pool of water
and seeing not only your own reflection
but the reflection of every ONE?

What is seeing
if you walk past the grasshopper,
still and camouflaged in the dry summer grass,
and never know his song?

And what is walking
if you never feel your roots
sigh
with the impact of each
blissful step?

Looking, but not seeing,
Hearing, but not understanding,
Drowning in a
sea of Grace
never acknowledged.

11/2/04

Divine

Divine light,
divine love,
divine soup?

Warm tomato bisque,
chamomile tea,
fresh baked bread.

What is divine
-or-
what *isn't* divine?

Howling winds,
crashing waves,
rustling winds...

Sing to me, oh divine ONE,
that I may add another verse to my
understanding.

Divine laughter.
Divine inspiration.
OM...................

11/2/04

The Woolyworm (a limerick)

Today as I walked down the street
Who should I happen to meet?
A fuzzy little friend
Who I held in my hand,
he pooped on me twice, what a treat!

For Jonah